We Were Detached, But Are We Still?
by Shadowmon26
Summary: After having just lost his mother, Hope begins to feel unmeasurable amounts of anger and sadness. Enough to become detached. Lightning takes notice and does her best to stop him from becoming too much like her. Question is: How to stop someone who admires you in every way from trying to become like you; HopexLight takes a while, possible change to M-rating
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING WHATSOEVER!  
**

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**Chapter 1**

"No." said the very hushed voice of a boy who has just witnessed his mother fall from the end of a destroyed bridge and wanting anything to wake up from this horrible nightmare. He however knows that what just happened is the reality, he has lost the most important person in his life to the unwavering grip of death.

He started to feel himself heat up as he struggled to contain the pain and sadness of knowing his mother is forever gone to the world. He took off his hood to reveal silver hair and turquoise eyes that were beginning to become cloudy with tears. Amidst everything that was happening and all the people around him he decided that now was not the time to mourn her death.

"Hey Hope, are you okay?" said the red head, Vanille, that accompanied him, completely aware of what just happened. Silence being her answer, she helped the boy named Hope up, gave him a warm and heartfelt hug, and then made him move away from there. She felt bad that she didn't allow him to mourn the loss of his mother, but she also understood what it would mean if he broke down there.

"We should ditch these robes don't you think? If we don't then people will instantly tell that we were on a purge train." said Vanille as she began busying herself with removing the aforementioned robes. When she was done, she revealed to be wearing a pink sleeveless top, a plethora of beads, and shoes and a skirt that seemed to be made from animal skin.

"Yeah, I guess." said Hope as he took his robe off revealing a black shirt with a orange and yellow jacket over it, a turquoise bandanna that hangs around his neck, dark green shorts and yellow shoes.

"Alright, everybody this way." said one of the soldiers who were trying to bring them to a safe location.

"Well, c'mon lets go." said Vanille, pushing Hope along, fully knowing that if they follow the soldiers then they will be safe. "Okay." said Hope getting her to stop pushing him along and instead walk beside him.

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After about 15 minutes, they arrive with the group at a small encampment that was obviously designed last minute to accommodate civilians that would need a safe place to stay while the battle was taking place.

Once they were safe, Hope's mind immediately went back to the fateful moment in which he saw his mother fall. Looking back he saw someone holding onto her, a hulking blond man wearing a white trench coat and beanie. He saw said man who looked like he could easily carry three or four people suddenly let go of his mother. Hope contemplated and concluded that with someone who looked so capable to fail his mother when she needed help, the person obviously didn't even try. He was suddenly consumed by a painful rage that told him one thing that he vowed to obey with the entirety of his heart. He started to tremble at the thought. The man who let his mother go must perish beyond belief.

"Hope, what's wrong?" asked a very concerned Vanille, noticing that Hope started to tremble. "Is it your mom?" she guessed while giving him a hug hoping to comfort him.

"No, it isn't that." said Hope who, while feeling the calm comfort of Vanille's hug, was questioning whether or not it is a good idea to let anyone else in on the new piece of information he discovered.

"Well, if you want to talk to anyone, I am here for you, but if you don't want to, then please don't feel forced." said Vanille, noticing he tensed and then relaxed with her words.

"Vanille, can you keep a secret?" asked Hope. "Of course, Hope." answered Vanille whole-heartedly noting the trust he was starting to show. Hope decided to trust at least one person with this information "I remember this blond guy. He wore a long white coat, gray pants, and a beanie. He was holding onto my mom, keeping her from dying. He looked so strong that I started to believe that he would save her. But then, I don't know, he just let go of her. And for someone so capable." Hope started trembling even before he finished his explanation.

"Oh Hope." said Vanille as she hugged him again, hoping it would calm him like last time. He however was not showing any sign of settling down as he continued trembling.

"Okay then. You just need to talk things out with this guy if you ever get a chance. I swear I have seen this guy you're talking about around here." added Vanille cheerily, hoping that if Hope talked things through with this guy, he would understand that things probably went beyond this guy's control and he couldn't save his mother.

"You really think that would help?" Hope yelled, becoming rather angry at the always happy demeanor of his companion. Hope was beginning to silently regret telling Vanille. He had the thought in his head that someone who was so optimistic might share a thought like this. However, he was still becoming rather angry with her apparent belief that the world is all sunshine-and-rainbows.

"I didn't mean everything would instantly be better. I said it because it is the most healthy and most likely way to get through this. There is never instant relief for feelings like this, but talking it out is one of the easiest steps to feeling better. I just want to help you to try to get through this Hope." Vanille said, never once losing the naturally cheerful tone of her voice.

"You're not even giving me a choice, are you?" asked Hope despairingly, knowing full well what the answer was before he even opened his mouth.

"Nope." Vanille declared happily due to triumphing over the boy's rather resistant personality. "Now we just need to find him." she added, already starting to look around for the man that Hope described.

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**Thanks for reading. This is my first fic so please R&R. Any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. If you just want to flame me, dare I say it, go ahead.**

**Again thank you so much for actually bothering to read my story, or at least the first chapter. I love writing but I hated writing this chapter, simply because nothing really happened. So if you want to know what may happen next, well, you are all very smart and know the site well enough so I hope you find it in your hearts to review.**


	2. Chapter 2

If anyone wants to know before reading this, this chapter does not have HopexLight in it. It really just sets up the next chapter. Also thanks for the praises guys it is really touching. The suggestion that was made is already a part of the story people, so just be patient and bare with me**  
**

And so, without further adieu (Dramatic Beethoven Symphony)

Here's this...(epic build-up fail) :D

Disclaimer: (sigh...) Nope, still don't own anything.

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**Chapter 2**

_**Flashback**_

"_Alright, we need one more volunteer...Anyone?" said a blond man. Nobody even dared to move for fear that, should they help by taking up arms, they might die._

_Suddenly a woman, averagely built with silver hair and blue eyes, stands and starts to move towards the man. Her son, Hope, reaches out to her and grabs her arm, asking her not to go._

"_It's okay, Hope." said the woman. She slips his hand off her arm and continues towards the man._

_Once she stands in front of the man, him having seen her and her son's exchange, his face shows his hesitancy and concern. "Are you sure?" said the man._

"_It's okay. Moms are tough." said the woman._

"_What's your name?" asked the man, reluctantly handing the gun in his hand to the woman._

_Holding the gun by her side, the woman simply replied "Nora."_

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_**Present Day  
**_

_"Hope's Perspective"_

'Why did I let you go, Mom.' I thought. 'If I wasn't so pathetic and weak, I could have taken that gun and defended the people.' I trembled with sadness and anger at my weakness. My ineptitude to brave up and use my life to protect her and the others. 'Then there would at least be a chance that you would be alive or we both be dead.' I thought, hating myself for throwing away the only opportunity to not have to live without her.

"Hey Hope, is there something wrong?" asked Vanille. 'Why? Why can't you just leave me alone? I tried to tell you about it but you're too much of a happy-go-lucky person that you can't understand that bad things can actually happen.' I thought, despising her cheery attitude for what it was. Just a way to run away from the troubles of the world.

"Absolutely, every thing's fine." I lied, hoping she would just drop whatever false comforting attempts she is apparently working towards.

"Okay, Hope. You don't want to talk. That's fine, but just know that if you do, I am here for you." she said, obviously not convinced, but at least she dropped the subject.

Just then, an alarm went off. Vanille and I started looking around for the source, only to look up and see a gateway opening up to reveal a Pulse fal'Cie. It came out of the gateway and started to move away from us. I kinda felt better, due to the fact that with everything I have gone through, I am not ready to deal with a fal'Cie.

After the fal'Cie was out of sight, we walked around camp for a while; her clearly still searching for that man. I honestly only cared to meet him face-to-face if it meant I could get my hands on him. 'But now that I think about it, someone who looks so strong won't be all that easy to take down. I need a plan to beat someone who has advantage over me in practically all physical fields. I just pray that man is all brawn or this is going to take a while.' I thought, deciding that face-to-face is too risky.

After walking for about 5 more minutes, we come upon a mildly open area. In the distance the battle seems to have died down a little bit. While there was still some noise from the small fighting going on, it wasn't as ear deafening as it had been. Due to the decreased noise, I think I hear a couple of vehicles coming our way.

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_**Meanwhile, Above the Encampment  
**_

'Well, at least a few survived.' thought a man named Snow as he flew through the air on a velocycle and fixing his beanie. As soon as this thought entered his head he instantly berated himself. 'I tried and failed to save you, Nora' he sadly thought, remembering the strong-hearted woman that helped them so much and saved his life. Just before she died she asked him to protect her son and bring him home. Snow was confused due to the fact he had no idea who her son was, but he still agreed. If nothing else than to try to make up for not being able to save her.

"Sure would help if I knew who he was." said Snow, not noticing he said it out loud.

"What was that?" asked the red head named Gadot who was accompanying his friend on another velocycle, on their way back to the camp from their mission. Obviously very curious about as to why his leader and best friend has been very quiet, unlike his usual self, for a while now and anything he says just might clue as to what's eating him.

"Nothing, Gadot." replied Snow, trying to make his curious friend drop the subject.

"Okay boss, whatever you say. By the way, we are almost to the encampment." replied Gadot, very disturbed by Snow's lack of interest in talking. 'What the hell is wrong with you Snow.' Gadot thought.

"Thanks, man." replied Snow cheerfully, hoping to throw his friend off of asking him about it. He honestly just wasn't in the mood for talking right now. Maybe later, though, he might tell his friend about it, but not now.

After riding for another minute, the two soldiers fly above a small encampment that they and their fellow soldier friends created to house any civilians they found. The encampment wasn't very elegant. Worn tents and a murky fountain left the place with a homeless person vibe, but of course, many of the people it was housing were homeless. After all, when one is Purged, the government, Sanctum, obtains their property and turns around to sell it for a ungodly price.

After looking down at the depressing scene of the inhabitants of the camp breaking down due to exhaustion or sadness from going through all of the fighting and seeing some of their friends or family falling off the destroyed bridge. Snow and Gadot find the open area they made to accommodate any vehicles that they brought.

After finally touching down their cycles, Snow turns to a cluster of his friends that have come to meet up with him. Gadot notices that Snow seems to not have any worries when surrounded by friends. 'Seems to, anyway.' He thought. If anyone knows Snow, they know that if something bothered him, it doesn't go away that quickly or easily. It would continue to pester him until he breaks down and shows untold amounts of frustration while explaining what the problem is. And Gadot knows Snow.

* * *

_**About 100 feet away**_

"Hey that's the guy, right over there." Said Vanille pointing to the burly blond that just arrived via velocycle. "C'mon, let's go Hope." she said starting to lead Hope along.

"No, Vanille." Hope said trying to fight against meeting the man. "I don't think that is such a good idea."

"C'mon Hope, you need to talk to him." said Vanille in her usual cheerful tone, starting to actually push Hope towards the man.

"Vanille, I said no." Hope snapped, annoyed that she wouldn't just leave him to deal with the man in his own way. He is, however, thankful that the group he was being pushed towards didn't hear that little outbreak. 'I need to keep myself in check if I even want a chance.' Hope thought, adding another part to his plan to kill the man who failed his mother; become emotionally detached.

'Of course, I also failed her by allowing her to even volunteer.' Hope thought, still feeling guilty for doing nothing when the chance of losing his mother was high and he had a chance to stop it.

"Hope, you need to do this." Vanille said, losing a little of the cheerful tone in her voice and replacing it with a commanding tone. She was literally putting all of her power into pushing Hope towards the man. At one point, though, she lost her footing and fell. Hope fell on top of her due to fact he had been pushing against her with all his might and couldn't react quick enough when she lost her footing.

Both of them pulled themselves off the ground. "Okay, Hope, I won't make you do this. I will keep trying to nudge you towards it though. But, if you ever get the chance to talk things out with him I want you to promise me you will try." said Vanille, seeing that it was impossible to get Hope to talk to the man at this time.

"Okay Vanille." Hope sighed, "If all else fails, I will try to talk it out with him if I ever get the chance."

"What.." said Vanille who, about to ask him what he meant by that, was cut off when she caught sight of the fal'Cie that appeared a while ago. "So that's why they did it. They brought the fal'Cie to scare anyone out of doing anything." Vanille said, as the fal'Cie seemed to be moving towards the encampment they were in.

They both hear the sound of an engine turning on and look towards the velocycles to find the man that they are so interested in flying off towards the fal'Cie.

Hope stood there, dumbfounded, wondering why anyone would willingly go straight at a fal'Cie. A few moments passed and the group that had been crowding the velocycles dispersed. Vanille, having the partial ghosts of an idea, went over to inspect the other velocycle that was still there. Hope, noticing her curiosity, walked over.

"Hope, what's wrong?" asked Vanille, seeing Hope's pained expression.

"Vanille, I want to tell him, it's just.." replied Hope, grasping her arm roughly as if it would tell her his intentions. Vanille, showing no signs of catching onto his meaning, simply pointed to the velocycle and asked "You know how to fly this?"

"Yeah, at least I think so." answered Hope with a confused expression on his face. 'Where is she going with this?' he thought. His question was answered when she grabbed him and threw him into the driver's seat and then moved to sit behind him. She leaned forward and pointed towards the fal'Cie and confidently said, "That way."

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" asked one of the men that they saw huddled around the velocycles earlier. He started running towards them, obviously about to stop them from going anywhere.

Starting the engine, Hope just announced "Hang on." before taking off and after temporarily losing control and having several near collisions with any and all pieces of architecture around them and even the man who tried to stop them. He finally got the cycle under control and started heading towards the fal'Cie with Vanille in tow. There was only one thought going through his mind right now.

_What in the HELL am I thinking?_

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Thank you all so much for reading. This chapter is probably the toughest thing I've written, simple because I didn't want to write it. I really want to get to the HopexLight stuff. So prepare for our favorite pink-haired former soldier in the next chapter which I am already beginning on. If you want to make any suggestions, flame me, anything at all, review please._  
_


	3. Chapter 3

**Everyone, I am so sorry for the wait. My computer got a crap load of water on it and I ended up having to replace the computer. I worked and worked and worked and finally built another. It took me about 2 weeks to get my parts and then about 3 days to assemble and install everything because of school. I then had to rewrite half the chapter. Again sorry and I hope you enjoy this chapter.  
**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, everything owned by SquareEnix, blah blah blah...  
**

**On with the noobish story  
**

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**Chapter 3**

_**Inside Pulse fal'Cie Vestige**_

"_Hope's Perspective"_

'...what's going on?' I thought hazily. It hurts. So much. But somehow it isn't that bad, it's actually kind of comforting to be honest. Almost like relief from all the pressure of the world.

"..ope" said a high pitched voice beside me."Hope.."

'Huh', I thought, 'Someone knows my name, and they are actually bothering to try to talk to me, a pathetic, little boy. Who would have thought?'

"Hope, are you okay." asked the voice, much clearer and more familiar than it was before. I blink my eyes open to find a familiar red-headed girl hovering over me with a concern look in her eyes.

"Vanille?" I croaked, still a little hazy from the pain.

"Hope!" she shouted, sounding as if life almost lost all meaning and then suddenly came back stronger than ever.

"Is there a problem? Because if not, please don't shout in my ear." I said, fighting off both the haziness from the pain and the beginnings of a headache caused by this cheerful girl.

"No, I'm just happy you're not dead." answered Vanille, more blunt than I would have thought possible from her. I gave her an affirmative gruff in response.

My first thought was where the cycle was. Mostly out of a sheer guess, I look behind me and find it in pieces. But what I didn't expect was a little bit of blood coming off of the bike.

"Aww." said Vanille, clearly hoping that the cycle would have remained intact. She seems distracted looking at the bike, but it doesn't look like she notices the blood, or maybe she does and thinks it is some type of mechanical fluid. I take this opportunity to skim over her body to look for any type of injury. I only found some bruises and so I look to myself. But before I even started to move my eyes, I felt a liquid running down my leg. I look down to see a thin trickle of blood.

I suddenly became aware of the problem. There was a piece of metal that has dug it's way into my thigh. I thought that if I became aware of the pain then it would become worse. This, however, was not the case. I felt the metal in my leg and the blood running down it. But despite that, I didn't feel the pain, instead I almost felt a little lighter, like the physical pain somehow took away all other pain in the world. It felt nice but I wanted to be sure that it was like that. So, I took a piece of the stone floor that was cracked from our impact and slit it across my wrist. Not too deep, but enough to cause a thin trickle of blood to form. I felt the ecstasy even more, but in order to keep from being discovered by Vanille and being asked an onslaught of questions I take a small piece of cloth from my pocket and wrapped it around my wrist.

Vanille looked back at me and saw my leg. "Oh no, Hope, your leg." said Vanille, shocked as if she just now noticed this. 'How long was I out? No matter how long, I would think that a piece of metal in someone's leg is pretty noticeable.' thought Hope at this observation. Vanille came over and, taking a piece of cloth out of my pockets, patched up my leg. I acted hurt while she was taking the piece of metal out so she would think I'm still sane, but silently I was praying the relief would never stop.

The sane part of my brain told me that pain should be painful. My body, however, was screaming at me, asking me to give it more release. I reached the conclusion that I would relieve myself every now and again, but only when I am on my own and I stay that way for a while.

Once she finished fixing my leg up we started walking around. I silently run through what I remember happening in my head. I remember flying the velocycle towards the Pulse fal'Cie...and that's it. The rest is just a blank in my head.

"So this is what the inside of a fal'Cie looks like." I said, slightly impressed at the complexity of it all.

"Hmm...I think this is just the Vestige. It just houses the fal'Cie." said Vanille, sounding a little happy at the chance of a conversation.

"Wow," I said, "How did you know that?"

Her face became depressed for half a second, and then went back to the sugar-and-rainbows look, "I've been around a bit." she said in a very 'end-of-discussion' kind of way.

"O-okay." I said. We walked up a large set of stairs in the most eerie silence there has ever been in the history of Cocoon. All of a sudden, a large mechanical wolf-like beast came out of nowhere and roared, then started stalking towards us. Vanille climbed on top of a pillar and came back down with some strange mechanism that looked like a giant pair of antlers. "Hey, look at this." she said, waving the mechanism around.

She suddenly swung it at the beast that was stalking towards us. Out of the mechanism I saw several wires flying out towards the beast. They suddenly snatched it and she swung hard and sent the monster flying away about 10 feet.

"Whoa..." I said, extremely awed by the fact that this girl seemed to know just how to handle such a strange contraption with such skill.

"Come on then." she said, motioning towards the creature.

"Okay." I said, taking out the boomerang I keep in my back pocket. I don't know much, well anything, about fighting but I guess you learn on the job. Once my boomerang was out I took the best battle-ready stance I could and launched my weapon at the beast. To my surprise, it actually appeared to do something to it. I hit it upside the head and was able to cause a cut to appear. Vanille then joined the fight and we took out the beast within another minute or so.

"Well, that was fun." she said, not losing that happy tone in her voice.

'Has she ever been unhappy, or at least bored, before.' I thought, thinking that she may have some kind of mental condition. I decide it's better to not ask about it. She may have a bad attitude then and I have to admit, as annoying as her personality gets sometimes, it even now seems to be growing on me. If someone can remain in good spirits even in these trying circumstances, it inspires confidence that I could do anything.

We look ahead of us and see a lot more of those beasts. After battling a couple though, I found that so long as they are kept away from us, they are rather easy to dispose of.

After defeating about ten of those beasts, we reach a high point where several different sets of stairs from different directions converge. I look back at where we came from and don't see anything. I turn around and I see a several groups of strange humanoid creatures limping towards us.

"What are they?" I said.

"C'ieth." Vanille said quickly before pulling out her 'Binding Rod' as she called it; I got the notion though. These are not friendly.

I pull out my boomerang and started looking around. My eyes found something that I really didn't want to see for a long time. I saw the blond man that I hate so much running towards us as fast as he could shouting "What are you doing here?" We didn't answer. He probably thought we were too scared to answer, what with those creatures coming and his yelling at us.

He got up beside us and braced himself to fight but he didn't pull out a weapon. The creatures soon found their way to the top of the stairs where we were and limped threateningly towards us. The blond man rushed forward and, with strength that I was sure no human could ever possess, punched one of the C'ieth in the face. Once his fist touched its face, I heard a sickening crack and wondered, 'How am I going to be able to kill someone that strong?' I shake the thought off and as much as I hated it, I needed him if I was going to survive this fight so I started chucking my boomerang at a C'ieth. I caught it in the head and killed it. Vanille started whipping her weapon about, picking up an enemy and throwing them a couple of feet.

Five minutes and 20 bodies later, the fighting finally stopped. I leaned on my knees and panted tiredly. I look over at the blond man and he has his mouth open but he sounds like he's breathing normally. 'Great, he also has stamina.' I thought, 'Revenge is going to take a while.'

The blond man turned to us and asked "You two alright?" Vanille nodded. He looked to me and I gave a small nod. "Okay then, you two get out of here." he said in a commanding tone. "What?" Vanille asked, apparently wanting to explore this place some more. "Both of you get out of here. This isn't a place for kids." he said. "What about you?" Vanille asked. "I'm going on ahead. Got some unfinished business in here." he said before taking off.

"You two stay safe." he said, turning around to take one last look at us and wore probably the biggest grin I have ever seen in my life.

We just stood there for about 5 minutes before Vanille said "Well, c'mon. We need to keep moving forward." I just sigh resignedly and follow her.

After maybe 15 more minutes we come to a huge flight of stairs.

"Really? Fal'Cie have an overuse of large amounts of stairs." I complain quietly, not really wanting to get into a long, drawn-out discussion about it.

After climbing for about a minute and a half up the stairs, we finally reach the apex. I expected there to be more C'ieth waiting for us; instead, there was a small group of four people. One girl with pink hair was laying down on the ground. She wore a simple white shirt with a white blouse over it with a checkered skirt and black stockings. Another pink-haired girl was crouching over her on one side, wearing a white vest with a red cape attached to it, a brown turtleneck, a brown mini-skirt and combat boots. She also had a sheathe with some type of weapon inside of it connected just above her back that dangled down just above the back of her knee. On the other was the blond man I hate so much. Standing a little ways away from them was a black man with an afro. He wore a short greet trench coat with a black shirt underneath, green pants and shoes to match the theme. He came equipped with dual pistols strapped to his thighs.

We step over to them and the two crouching on the ground do nothing but glance at us and then turn back to the girl laying on the ground. The black man turned to us and mouthed 'later'. I understood that should we survive this then I would be filled in on whatever is apparently happening here. I simply nod.

After a moment of the two people over the girl talking and arguing over something. The girl in the middle slowly started to float off the ground. When she was about ten feet in the air a brilliant white light started to shine. I blink twice to try to get the glare out of my eyes and gasp when I finally understand what I am seeing.

The girl had turned to crystal. That had to have meant she was a l'Cie and she completed her focus.

I was so dumbfounded that the two who were crouched, now standing up, started arguing it didn't even phase me. I was shocked out of my bewilderment when the blond man said triumphantly "We can save her." I looked at him shortly before the pink-haired girl caught my attention by rearing up and punching the man straight in the face shouting "No we can't. She's dead."

I looked at her in pure admiration. The man that I hate so much, and she is able to take him down just like that when I probably couldn't touch him if I tried. If she is able to do that to him...I just might be able to learn a thing or two from this woman.

I decide that should the choice come up, I am going to stick with the pink-haired lady.

_**My happiness might just come from you someday...**_

* * *

I have to admit, you people really are something else. I create this mediocre work and you, kind readers, keep on reading this. Not to mention the wonderful reviews. I love all of y'all. Seriously, If you want to

A. Praise Me (thank you so much)

B. Flame Me (I probably deserve it)

C. Make a Suggestion (IT WOULD BE VERY APPRECIATED!)

D. All of the above (Honestly, if you can do this then you are an extraordinary being)

Then I implore you to review. I will, now that Lightning is in the picture, probably write a lot more. Thanks for reading everyone :D


	4. Chapter 4

**I am so sorry to disappoint everybody but I am going to skip the battle for Anima... I tried writing it and it took WAY TOO LONG. And I also feel that you wouldn't read this if you haven't played the game before, so yeah. As for the updating, it was truly laziness. I am sorry people but guitar, FFXIII, and FFXIII-2 had most of my attention. I beat XIII-2 and I must say I was thoroughly disappointed. After I beat it, I finally felt like writing, so here it is.**

**Also, I am seriously considering changing this to M-rated. It is a personal request from a friend because they want to see what I can do with that part of my mind ;)  
**

**Everything will be in Hope's Perspective unless it says otherwise. Sorry, I am just tired of writing that little 18 character line :)**

**Disclaimer: I can't own anything as nice as Final Fantasy. SquareEnix has that honor.**

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_**After Anima Battle**_

I opened my eyes, and all I saw was pitch black. Then there was a spark of green light and a giant..."thing" appeared. It had green lights and fog glowing all around and over it. I looked around and saw all of the people who were with me before there. I look back at the "thing". The more I look at it, it seems to be getting closer.

_'Crap...'_

We were moving towards said big "thing" and it did not look friendly. Once we were fairly close, it roared and sent out several vines of energy that bound us and spread out our limbs. It then sent a shot of energy at each of us. It hit me in my left wrist and it burned like crazy. My whole body was going numb, the pain felt so good. After a while though the pain started to show it's true self and I was reminded why we inherently fear pain. It became so intense that my vision started to go blurry then next thing I know I was knocked out.

* * *

_**Lake Bresha**_

I opened my eyes again and instantly get blinded by the glare of the sheer light of the place. I wait for my eyes to adjust some before opening them again. I was greeted by the most blue I had ever seen in my entire life. I sit up and look around.

Everything. Is. Crystal.

_'What's going on here'_ I thought, very terrified of this place. All of a sudden, I hear a loud yell beside me "Serah!" It was the blond man that I hate so much. I look around again near where I was and I saw everybody else from inside the Fal'Cie starting to get up.

The black man was looking around confused. "This is...Lake Bresha. We came from up there. And the lake turned to crystal." he said, starting to sound desperate. "Hey, somebody help me out? How did we survive?" he asked to no one in particular. The blond man decided to speak up however, "It was Serah. Serah saved us!" he nearly shouted.

The pink-haired lady turned around quicker than I could see and yelled "No she didn't. She's dead!"

As she said that, a group of monsters that looked similar to the ones in the vestige came around the corner. The only difference was that these were much larger and looked like they could break me in half with one swipe. I skidded back and fell onto my rear at the sight of them while the pink-haired lady turned around too late to dodge the oncoming attack of one of them. The blond man ran in front of her and blocked the attack with a little difficulty. He pushed the monster off and reared his hand back. He let his punch fly but when it collided there was a flash of blue light and the monster was no more.

"How..." he mumbled. "You used magic. You used the power of a l'Cie. The Fal'Cie cursed us. We're l'Cie now." I shouted, scared by that horrible truth as I looked to my wrist that felt like it was burning before, only to find a l'Cie brand right there.

"Let's take these guys" the blond man said, eager to fight.

In a few minutes, the enemies were disposed of by the blond man, the pink-haired lady, and Vanille. Afterwards, the blond man continued his rambling of "Serah saved us!" The pink-haired lady just sighed and said in an icy tone, "She's dead, idiot."

Just then we heard a commanding voice yell, "Freeze! We have you surrounded!" Just then about 10 to 15 troops come around us and take aim. "Put your hands behind your heads." he said. We all obliged, although the blond man and the pink-haired lady weren't very quick about it. "You fallen off the purge train?" he said in a mocking voice.

"Maybe..." the pink-haired lady spoke in a rather "smart" tone. "Are you talkin' back to me?" he yelled. She just raised her eyebrows and said, "Nice gun," before she suddenly took him down without any effort. Then her, the blond man, and Vanille stepped up to fight again and beat all the soldiers easily within a couple of minutes.

We moved forward into another clearing when the pink-haired lady suddenly spoke up "So, what's our Focus? And how do we complete it?" "Well, we're Pulse l'Cie right? So our focus is to... We have to..." the black haired man spoke. "Save Cocoon." the blond man said flatly. "Okay. How do you figure that?" Vanille asked disbelievingly. "Yeah, give us one reason to believe that." the black man said. "Serah." the blond man said flatly. "Yeah right. Look, if I were a betting man, I would put us on the other side. What about that vision." the black man replied. "Vision?" the pink-haired lady asked, seemingly to Vanille for some reason. "Well..." Vanille replied in a way that said 'I-had-one-too.' The pink-haired lady looked at me "Did you see it?" she asked. "Well...it's all kind of fuzzy...but, I saw this big, I mean, massive..." I said, not finding the words to describe it. "Wait a minute. Did we all have the same dream?" he asked rhetorically.

"Ragnarok." we all said in unison.

"So, we all had the same dream and we all heard the same voice. We all have the same Focus." he said and everybody looked like they needed to take a break from the conversation and absorb this new information, so we left the topic alone and forged on.

We walked down a road together as a group when the blond man suddenly said, "Well, might as well make introductions. I'm Snow, Snow Villiers." he said. "How 'bout you short-stuff?" he asked me. "Hope, Hope Estheim." I said flatly. "What about her?" Vanille asks Snow. "Bodhum Security Regiment. She goes by Lightning." he answers. "I'm Sazh, Sazh Katzroy. Nice to meet you." the black man said. "Vanille." said girl said simply.

We all continued our trek down the hill to a clearing, sort of, and we made our way down a broken wing of a huge jet. Lightning looked over to a pile of crystal and suddenly mumbled "Serah..." At that moment, Snow ran in front of her yelling "Serah!" He then picked up a large tool and started to dig at the crystal girl's feet. Vanille and Sazh began to help him.

I saw Lightning turn and leave after mumbling "This is goodbye." Snow suddenly stood up and said "You're just going to leave her." Lightning replied quickly, "Soldiers are coming. If they find us, we're dead." "I can handle anything they throw at us. I'll protect Serah! And Cocoon!" he said, returning to his preaching.

Lightning then walked over to Snow, stood right in front of him, and punched him straight to the ground. "Does she look protected to you?" she yelled. I now felt more of a connection to her than ever before. Her only family was taken by Snow with his promise of protection and then he failed that promise. Only difference, she is strong enough to actually do something about it.

"I can save her." Snow said while getting back up. Lightning just punched him again and landed him on the ground a second time. "What could you possibly do?" she asked irritatedly. "Whatever it takes." Snow said solidly, looking straight into her eyes and channeling everything he has into looking confident and optimistic.

Lightning just lowered her hand at the sound of those words. 'No, Lightning. Give him what he deserves.' I thought, receiving extreme delight in seeing Snow suffer without being able to do a thing about it.

Sazh, out of nowhere, just walks away and says "Admit it. You want to stay as much as he does." Snow then picks his tool back up and starts digging again. Even though I hate him, I must give him credit for how much he cares about Serah.

I suddenly hear Sazh start screaming "No!" for some reason. I look over and fall on my rear for the second time that day. I see a giant scorpion-like machine flying over to us. Snow, Vanille, and Lightning engage it in a fight.

After about 5 minutes they take down the robot. Lightning starts heading off, with Sazh quickly following suit after giving Snow a pat on the back and wishing him luck. He looks towards Vanille and I and says "You two go. I can't leave her." while motioning to the statue. _'I am not going to take off and let you live just like that, you lying murderer.'_ I thought with my teeth bared, barely controlling my anger. I feel Vanille tugging on my wrist, signaling me it was time to go. I slowly walked away with vengeance in my heart. _'How can I give up like that?' _I ask myself.

_'If we ever meet again, I will kill you, Snow.'_

* * *

_**Lake Bresha Ruins**_

I follow Vanille and we catch up to Lightning and Sazh after a couple of minutes of light jogging. _'This whole ordeal is very tiring, It hasn't been an hour and I am already panting.'_ I thought, slowly losing strength in my legs due to the fact that I have never had to move like this before in my life. I look ahead and see that nobody else was showing the slightest sign of fatigue. _'Why am I so weak? I can't keep up with even an old man.'_ I thought, instantly reminding myself of my failure to save my mother.

I pushed myself to keep up with them, no matter how tiring it was. After trekking through the crystal pathways for another hour, we came across a massive gate leading up to some ruins.

"Wow..." Vanille said, in awe of the massive structure before our group. All I noticed was the huge staircase. _'Seriously...this just isn't natural. Damn whoever came up with the idea of huge staircases.' _I whined silently in my head, my feet already feeling the burn that will come from climbing it.

After a couple of minutes of nothing but stairs, we reached the top. There were more of the 'mechanical-dog-monster-things.' a little ways away from us. Lightning went up and slaughtered four, while Sazh shot three, and Vanille whipped one around and bashed it into two more. I felt a slight tingling from my brand, I look down and see a ball of fire in my hand. I thrust my hand forward and released it, incinerating one of them. After that little battle, we moved on.

We marched through the ruins fighting off any and all monsters we came across. I felt a sense of pride at seeing what I was capable of in the ways of magic. In comparison, I think the only one that could match me in it would be Lightning.

After a couple more minutes of walking, we come across a stadium-like structure. We go inside and I see a wall of orange crystal. Vanille giggled and ran ahead of the group. "I'm gonna go look around." she said blissfully. She ran across to the crystal wall, looking around in wonder. Then she looked up and screamed. She ran back towards us just as a huge winged monster came around the corner, smashing into the crystal wall. "It's a Garuda Interceptor." Sazh said, knowing that what it's called is irrelevant right now.

Lightning just sighed and drew her sword. Sazh and Vanille followed suit with their weapons while I shakily brought my boomerang out. Vanille quickly caught it and held it in place while Lightning and Sazh started wailing on it with sword slashes and bullets respectively, all the while I am hurling spell after spell at it. After about five minutes of beating on it, it flew off to an adjacent room and became surrounded by a glowing field of energy. Lightning said "It's charging up." "Charging up? For what?" Sazh asked, not sure of how bad it was. However, all of us got into battle positions and started beating on it again, although this time it didn't even seem to not even faze the beast. Then it flew high into the air and shot down a huge energy blast straight at us. It completely doused the left half of my body. After a cloud of smoke cleared, I looked at my 'comrades' and saw that all of them were injured. Badly.

I immediately went to Lightning, seeings as she is the most capable one of us, closed my eyes, and tried to channel my magic into something that would help her. I felt this rush of heat, and, fearing that I just released a fire spell I opened my eyes. Suddenly, the heat was replaced by a cool wetness. I look and see a green glow coming from my hand going over her body, healing all the burns she sustained. She sat up and mumbled "Thanks." "No problem." I said while feeling a little proud and a little less useless.

I went over and healed Sazh and Vanille. Then, we went back to the beast, who has taken it upon himself to start his 'charging' again. We all combine all of our efforts, and in what felt like no time, we demolished the Interceptor.

I bend over, hands on my knees, panting. That was the toughest battle I have ever fought. I look around and everyone else is just breathing a little heavier than normal.

"Hey, look." Vanille chirped, pointing to a launch pad.

And on the launch pad was...a ship?

_'Huh...middle of nowhere and all of a sudden there is a ship. Go figure.'_ I thought as a small smile came to my face.

"Looks flyable." Sazh said. "I could fly it, you know, being a trained pilot." he mumbled to me, I could hear trace amounts of pride and enthusiasm in his voice. "All right, all aboard." he declared, to which we all shuffled onto the vessel.

After fifteen minutes or so of preparation we took off. Once we broke ground I was stunned by the view. The wilderness of Cocoon was beautiful. We continued to climb high into the sky. Once we were at a 'reasonable' height, we stopped climbing and just coasted. We all turned on our monitors that were attached to our seat and watched the news. Sazh had to explain who Galenth Dysley was but other than that, he just kind of translated some of what they were saying.

I look over and I see Lightning watching her screen intently, and looking very irritated by the primarch. The only other time I saw that look was when she argued with Snow. _'I take it that she hates the primarch.'_ I thought, not really able to come to another conclusion.

I look over at her again. This time though, I feel like I am looking for something else. I notice long legs, miniskirt, and somewhat tight clothing covering her torso. I wonder how she would look like...

_'Stop right there, Estheim.' _I thought, pinching myself to emphasize. _'Killing Snow, that is your only objective right now. Nothing else matters.'_

Just then a warning light flashed. Seconds later, we got hit by something that managed to rock the entire ship. "Can't you guys leave us alone." Sazh complained, all the while starting to do fancy tricks in order to lose the enemy ships that snuck up on us.

The maneuvers that Sazh performed were effective for a few moments before he pulled straight up. We burst through the cloud barrier and I simply stared at the sight before me.

It was Eden, where the Sanctum is seated, and it's Fal'Cie. It was so beautiful...

I was broken out of my reverence of the sight when I saw we just kept getting closer to the Fal'Cie. I looked over and saw Sazh with an intense look on his face. "Sazh?" I said worriedly. "Don't worry." he said firmly, almost making me believe he wasn't going crazy.

Almost...

Once we got close enough to the Fal'Cie, I saw that it had thousands of tendrils of golden lightning swirling around it. We started flying through the field with Sazh expertly avoiding most of the tendrils. One of them got us though and destroyed our engines. It was then that we went barreling towards the ground at Mach 4. I blacked out at the exact moment that I struck the dirt.

* * *

_**Dream**_

I woke up in a bed. I felt really weird, somehow content and at peace.

I got up out of the bed and walked over to a mirror. I was shocked by what I saw. I looked to be about 20 years old and only in my boxers. I was still tired so I decided to go back to bed.

Once I get situated under the covers, I feel a weight on my chest. I look down and see a feminine hand resting on it. I follow the hand, up the arm, to the shoulder where I immediately get a huge flash of nothing but subtle pink hair.

_'Oh. My. God...'_

Lightning opened her eyes. She looked up at me and smiled. She opened her mouth and spoke with enormous amounts of love and care "Good morning honey."

_'I can't believe what I just heard.'_ I thought to myself, not able to hide my blush from her statement. "Good Morning." I said softly.

I watched her get up and out of the covers, immediately turning about four shades darker. She rose out of the blanket wearing nothing but a black two piece. She noticed me looking, smirked, and walked very sensually over to a dresser. I couldn't stop myself from watching her tail end shake with each step. She opened up the dresser, took out a large button up shirt and put it on. After that she just up and walked out of the room.

_'What the hell is going on here.'_ I thought confusedly, _'Wait...'_ I look down at my hand and see it. A plain golden wedding ring. _'Huh, might as well see where this goes.'_ I thought, accepting whatever might happen to me. I get up again and walk over to the same dresser Lightning went to. I open up random drawers and pull out a t-shirt and jeans. I quickly slip them on and head out the door and down a hallway and some stairs. I am immediately bombarded with the delicious smell of pancakes and bacon. I come around a corner and see my supposed wife cooking breakfast.

I decide to try something that I saw in a movie once. I came up behind her, put my head on her shoulder, crossed my arms over her stomach and moaned truthfully "That smells absolutely delicious, honey."

"Thanks, I wanted to repay you for last night. You made me feel so special on my birthday." she said, turning around and pecking my cheek. _'Apparently, I must have done something to her to make her feel very loved and cared for.'_ I thought, trying to piece together the mystery of this unnerving situation. I look back down at my wrist and notice that my brand is gone. I gasp audibly.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Lightning asked me, following my line of sight to my wrist. "Afraid it'll come back?" she said in more of a statement than a question. "No, just hard to believe it's not there anymore. I mean it feels like only yesterday we were l'Cie." I said. "Well, it's over now, we have each other, and life is peaceful once again." she said, pulling me in for a kiss on the lips.

However, as soon as her lips touched mine, I heard a familiar voice.

And then I woke up.

* * *

_**Vile Peaks**_

I woke up on the ground with Vanille shaking and screaming at me "Wake up! You have to wake up!"

I look around to see what got her so worked up and what I see somehow is shocking, but kind of expected. I see Lightning standing up to 2 Thexatrons. Sazh and Vanille run over to help while I still try to shake off the daze from both the crash and the dream I was just having.

Just in time too, because 4 more Thexatrons came from behind some rocks when one of the ones already fighting let out an ear-piercing roar. I pull my boomerang out, run up next to Lightning, and start throwing spell after spell. After 10 minutes of hacking, shooting, wrangling, and incinerating; the fighting is done.

Sazh and Vanille sit down panting while Lightning just sheathes her weapon and starts walking away. "Woah woah woah wait. No break?" Sazh stammered. "The army is following us. We have to keep moving. If they catch us, we're dead." "I know that." Sazh said exasperatedly. "I know that." he said, a lot more definite this time, "But we're not soldiers. We don't have your kind of stamina." he finished. "Ya got enough to complain." Lightning snapped, turning around and walking away again.

I walk in front of Sazh, almost ready to ask if I can follow her. He seems to sense what I want to ask him and shrugs "I would stick with her kid, if I were you." "Okay, see ya." I said, more confident that this is the right choice. I start up the path that she took.

_'If I follow you, I can get stronger, and kill Snow. And maybe, just maybe...I can make my dream a reality.'_

* * *

_**I am really, really sorry people. Please review. I got a new notebook so I can write whenever I want now. Plus with Lightning in the picture I can finally write HopeXLight. Which means the chapters will be coming quicker. Thank You.**  
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_**Also I am making each chapter a little longer on accident. I just keep feeling like the chapters aren't good enough to upload and I try to compensate by putting in more.  
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_**1 last question. What do you guys think about a complete redo of the FFXIII story but replacing Hope with an OC of mine. The idea came to me and I feel like it might be fun to write and I probably will do it anyways. I just would like to know what y'all think of the idea.  
**_


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